Underwater

I purchased an underwater case a few months ago and had really been wanting to shoot with it. I shot with a model over the summer named Mellanie and she said she would be interested in an underwater shoot so we set up a day for it.
It was a little different getting into the groove of shooting underwater. The case is bulky and I had a hard time feeling the buttons. But, after about 30 minutes I got into the swing of things and I was pretty happy with what we came out with in the end.
I know Mellanie also felt a little off at first trying to be graceful and beautiful while holding her breath and 10 feet under water. She was really great and now that we both have the hang of things a little better I think we'll try it again soon.






We took a few photos on the water before we went under. This one reminds me of a resort add photo, it was one of my favorites.

silhouettes at the salt flats

I try to make a trip out to the salt flats at least once a summer. This summer I had a lot of dancers that wanted to come. I like having a lot go out there for photos, it's a unique place and a lot of dancers never get to go out there.
I really love how the clouds looked out there on this trip. Last year there really wasn't much as far as clouds so it was a little less exciting for photos. But the clouds this trip were just amazing and helped make some of these photos really pop.
Seeing the sun rays blasting through the clouds I took the opportunity to create some pretty unique silhouette. We were all really pleased at how these turned out.

Silver!

A couple weeks ago I was able to work with a dancer from Ballet West named Silver Barkes. She has been dancing professionally at Ballet West for the past six years if I remember correctly. I have had the opportunity to work with a lot of amazing dancers but Silver has to be the most amazing dancer I've worked with, and that's saying something. For our photo shoot she didn't want any traditional poses, she's been there and done that. So we tried to come up with a few ideas that were a little more contemporary and unique. I think we came up with some great poses and I love how her photos turned out.

Ballet West Academy

It's been way to long since I've posted anything. I've been so busy taking photos that I haven't taken the time to write anything. So far this month I've had two weddings, one bridal shoot, two shoots with models, and one graduation shoot. It's been a busy two weeks.

Last week the Ballet West Academy had their final show of the year. It was great to watch all the younger kids dance around, they seemed to have a lot of fun. The older dancers were just as amazing, and we even found out that a couple of them are getting moved up to Ballet West II. That was pretty exciting.
I shot two nights of the performance. I normally am only there for dress rehearsals but this time was asked to come during the actual show and sit back in the sound booth. It was a little different shooting, I normally get to sit in the seats so I don't have to hold my camera up the entire two hours. The first night I had a tripod to use, thankfully. And I was shooting with a different lens, Canon 70-200 2.8IS L. I think it needs to be calibrated I wasn't the most happy with the results. The second night of shooting I didn't have the tripod so I had to hand hold my camera for the entire shot. I had came from shooting a wedding so I was already a bit tire and by the end of the ballet my back was killing me. I went back to using my Canon 70-200 4.0L and got much better results.
Here are a few of my favorite shots.

High School Dances

Last month I had a group of my students ask if I would take their Prom pictures. I guess the photos cost a ton at the dance and we all know that those dance photos can be kind of lame.
So, this group of kids offered to pay me to take their photos instead. It ended up being a much better deal for them cost wise and they had a heck of a lot more fun. We shot photos for about an hour and a half and this was a pretty unique group so they helped make it interesting and fun for me too.
Well ever since then I've been getting asked to take photos for groups of kids for all the upcoming dances, and even a few request for next year. It's actually turning out to be a pretty good deal for me and the kids I'm taking photos for. They get more photos, and better ones if I say so myself, than they would at the dance. And I make a few bucks on the side.
So here are a few of the photos we've been taking for the dances.

Ballet West Review

Check out this great review of Ballet Wests "Balanchine's America" by Betsy Hijazi.

http://www.betsysview.com/2010/05/the-brilliance-of-ballet-west-and-balanchines-america/

Balanchine's America

I have recently had the privilege of taking photographs for Ballet West. They are one of the premier ballet companies in the United States.
Ballet Wests latest performance was a show called "Balanchine's America". Based off of the famous choreographer George Balanchine's ballets. George Balanchine was probably the most influential choreographer in the 20th century. The performances included three ballets choreographed by Balanchine: Serenade, Agon ,and Stars and Stripes.
Here are a few of my favorite photos from the show.